Trip to Zimbabwe Part 1 - Our time in Malipati

We were invited back to Zimbabwe to hold a conference in Chikombedzi.  (In September we were in Malipati for a conference) We are so thankful to have Julia here with us this school year.  This was my 3rd training/conference I was able to go with Mark to since she is here to stay with our kids.  We were able to delay the kids break one week and they enjoyed the week off school and doing fun things around town and hanging out with the Hixon kids and Cait too. 

I am going to warn you now, this is going to be a long post!  I want to share with you highlights from the last seven days and take you on our "journey" with us.  We are so grateful for everyone who prayed for not only our family but for the staff that went as well as the church in Zimbabwe.  It was a great week!

We left Polokwane just a little after 3 am on Monday, March 18th and 11 1/2 hours later we arrived in Malitpati, Zimbabwe.

 It was a smooth trip ... 

-quick stop just before the border to fix a flat on William's bakkie with a plug, 

-the border was not too busy, 

-another stop after leaving the border to change Williams tire as the plug was not holding, 

-we did have to go a different road than we did in September due to a bridge being washed away in the January floods

-we drove a short distance through a game park & only saw a few ladies walking who said the bakkie the were with ran out of disel

-stopped to give the people a little bit of diesel

-left the game park without seeing any animals

-shortly after leaving the game park we saw a giraffe cross the road and walk over a small fence

-just outside of Malipati we came across Amosse and Nomathembi walking

-loaded their suitcase in one of the bakkies and gave Nomathembi a ride the rest of the way while Amosse rode his bike. (sidenote - it was so HOT that day!)

-arrived in Malipati around 3 pm with a warm welcome.

it sure was early

stopped to put a plug in William's tire

just cleared the border

stopped to change the tire

Armored Ground Cricket also known as "demon bugs" they were everywhere!

Giraffe we saw after leaving the Game Park

road to Malipati

stopped to talk to Amosse and Nomathembi

It was great to see Pastor Steven and some of the other leaders from Malipati.  We planned on spending two nights in Malipati so the guys could repair the generator.  (Back in September they asked us to look at it.  The guys were able to determine that the injector and the injector pump needed to be repaired.)  They arranged for us to rest in the afternoon under the trees and brought us bottles of cold coke and cookies.  Later that afternoon, Meriam, who oversee the old World Vision facilities took Jill, Debbie and myself to see the Nuanetsi River (this is the same river that runs beside Mabuzane and Tchale in Mozambique)  She was telling us that there are a lot of crocs there and that around 8 am you can see them on the banks of the river.  We walked all around looking for crocs.  She showed us all around and even tried throwing rocks in the water to get the crocs to appear.  Jill and I are pretty sure we saw the nose and eyes of one and then it went under.  

we thought it was a croc but it is only a rock

Meriam giving us a tour

some of the debris left from the January floods

Meriam trying to find the crocs

 We walked back to the center where the guys were and found them visiting and found Mark in the bakkie "studying" for his sermon. 

guess he was a little tired after driving for 11 1/2 hours!

On Monday and Tuesday nights in Malipati we had an evening service.  Mark preached on Monday and Derrick preached on Tuesday evening.  

 

Pastor Steven had arranged for us to stay at the guest house and the local church provided our dinner for us.  We were so grateful for their hospitality and the fact that we didn't have to unload everything and set up camp for two days before moving to Chikombedzi for the conference. 

Guest House in Malipati

breakfast on Tuesday morning

 After breakfast, the guys had a meeting with leaders concerning the generator and Jill, Debbie and I decided to walk down to the river and see if we could see the crocs.  As we were walking, we passed by the Veterinary Center and they were busy with the cattle.  

When we made it to the river, we didn't find any crocs so we decided to walk around and find a place to sit and spend some time with the Lord.  This was one of the many of "my favorites" from this trip.  It was great to sit there on the rocks next to the river with my friends, Jill and Debbie, and spend time praying together.  It was really a sweet time with the Lord!  

After we left the river, we headed back to the center to see how it was going with the guys.  William and Doug, along with several of the locals and Masango,  were busy working on the generator and making a plan to get the thing us and running.  Mark and Brad were given the assignment to go around to to all of the buildings that this generator supplied electricity to and check the outlets, wires, etc. They made a list of what needs to be repaired and taped all the exposed wires.  Some of these houses are currently housing students that attend the high school. 

adding diesel

Masango helping fill the radiator

 I went to find Meriam and she was busy trying to locate the owners manual for the generator.  She had been looking through everything and was almost finished.  She let me help her with the last few piles.  We never found it and she was tired so we sat down to rest.  She pulled out her bible and wanted to look up a few scriptures. I met Meriam when we were in Malipati in this past September and it was nice to sit and spend a little time with her. 

 

After lunch we headed back to the center and William and Doug continued to work on the generator.  Meriam took Mark and Brad to the other buildings and Jill and I went with them.  The buildings included the World Vision Center, guest house plus four other houses. 

 

some of the outlets need to be replaced

this is in the conference room

this is one of the houses

not sure what he thought about us

 When we got to Meriam's house her kids had left and locked the gate and she didn't have a key.  So Mark and Meriam decided to jump over the fence.  

Meriam's house - she stays in one of the World Vision houses

locked out

 When we got back to the center they were busy trying to get the generator to start.  There was something that was not working right.  They noticed that it looked like something on the control board was burned.  Mark remembered finding a board when he was looking around the center at all the outlets etc.  He ran off and came back with it.  William was surprised to see that and then after looking at it they determined this was an old one as it had a few places they could see burned out. 

 

They talked about it for a while and made a plan.  Mark and Brad had turned off the breakers at all the other houses so they decided they would start the generator and see if they could get power to the main 2 buildings at the center. 

Mark went inside to the main breaker and William started the generator.  When he said we have light, everyone went to check it out and sure enough there was electricity to the building!  Everyone was walking around and checking out all the rooms.  At one point Meriam looked at me and said "Now we are a town!"  They were all so happy.  There is still work to be done on the generator but it looks like there are people there who will look after it and see that things are taken care of.  William and Doug finished working on the generator and packing things away just before dark. 

Member and Derrick wanted to go see the river so Brad drove and Jill, Debbie, Nomathembi and I went with them.  (and we still didn't find a croc!) 

Derrick was disappointed there was not a croc!

Member

Nomathembi enjoying the view.

 When we got back to the center, we found Mark sitting with Saziso.  We met her in September.  She attends the Gospel Revival Ministries church and was asking Mark about different songs to teach the kids in Sunday school.  He was busy teaching her Jesus Loves Me. 

Learning the motions with the song. 

Wednesday morning we packed everything up and the guys had an "exit" meeting with the leaders.  Jill, Debbie and I went to return the coke bottles to the shop.  When we returned to the center to wait on the guys to finish, I decided to take a quick photo of the meeting.  Derrick saw me and motioned for me to join them.  So I did.  Pastor Steven and some of the other leaders in the community were thanking Samaria Mission for coming and helping them.  As far as the generator is concerned, we have turned off the power to all the other houses until a local electrician can come fix the problems.  We also left a list of "what to do to maintain" the generator and there are a few men there who will be able to do this.  They closed the meeting spending some time in prayer.   

"exit" meeting

 We were all busy saying our good-byes and Meriam handed me a piece of paper.  It said "The verse for remembrance Colossians 2 vrs 5"  which says "For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ." 

We had a great few days in Malipati and we were, as a team, so blessed and humbled by their hospitality! 

 Before heading to Chikombedzi we went to the river so that Derrick, Mark, William and Doug could see it and of course we were all hoping to see a croc ... but we didn't.  

Mark checking out the river

Be sure to check out the Samaria Mission facebook page for more pictures from Malipati.  Check back for part 2 ... Our time in Chikombedzi